[CS1] Taokaka Combo and BnB Thread

[XDest]

The best non-taunt combo is: 5B 3C 5D~B [hit] 5C 2D~6 j.C 9D~9 j.C 9D~9 ... 3D~3 j.236Bx5 [~3400].

[RinHara5aki]

I was actually thinking about that and it's not like tao is horrible if you don't utilize taunts. If you weren't willing to learn taunt combos properly, she can still get good damage via her old combos. They're just not as easy to pull off, since 5C CH no longer links to 6C. In this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyEvBfjxQSM), you see Purrin just play smart, utilizing 5b>3c for not as good damage as taunt combos, but still respectable. In the end though, you're not playing tao to her full potential. Sad but true, tao is a hard character to learn in CS, but I prefer it over CT tao because the payoff in the end is much better.

I'll quote TaoFTW directly-

"Tao is now 100% execution"

You want to output as much damage as possible. If you can completely down the taunt loop, you have a much better game with Tao. That means less times to hit confirm, if you kill the opponent in 4 combo's instead of 8(Of course that varies, but just for this example, just on average :/). Get what I'm saying? Her mind games/mixup/etc are VERY important, but the loop is there for a reason now... as Dest said, 3400~ is the most you'll get from a non-taunt combo.

Thats just my opinion though. Thats why I had to main freakin Lambda and second Tao in CS, because my execution is poor... very poor 3: if 214d was a person, I would stab him.

My execution-

5b -> 6a (1) -> JC -> 2d~b -> taunt -> ... -> /headdesk ->

[Ronove]

Yeah, due to the fact that her health is the lowest in the game and that her defensive tools are pretty poor you have to gain a big lead whenever you're given the chance. I think that in some of her CS matchups (like vs Litchi) the opponent doesn't even need to attempt full combos but simply use short ones as long she keeps getting knocked down while being pushed to the corner. She really suffers against knockdown+corner resets without meter. Hence why I also agree with TaoFTW and Rin that the more damage we squeeze the more chances we have to survive and fight a possible comeback. It's pretty weird to say but her offense in CS now is practically her best way to defend. I'm personally not giving up yet. I'll probably learn an other character when the game will be out on consoles because Tao has simply become unplayable online (atleast for me, as I do not have a great internet connection), but I'm still maining her to any offline tournament and event that I'm attending to. Taunt loop is still far from being consistent but I'm seeing improvement (now I get three taunts almost regularly, gotta work on not bluebeating too much after the third one) and as Cake said, the payoff for all this hard work is worth it since Tao's abare skyrockets a lot once you're able to squeeze 4k damage of any throw, 5B, 3C etc. Knowing no taunt combos is still important though, not just because they're easier but because they are useful when you want to play resets after a no hit 5D~B (and then going 2B > 5C OTG > etc). Kazu has been doing this A LOT in his most recent vids, it's a good tool to fool with the opponent's mind.

[CakeWasBannedd]

Quick question someone might be able to answer, how does tao get her max damage potential? It's obviously 2C FC>6C>Taunt loop, but how do you end it? I recently did a 6C loop on my friend, ending it with 214214C then 236236D, and it got just under 7k if i remember correctly.

[Ronove]

Never bothered to end it with a super because landing a 2C FC has been so rare for me that I never bothered practicing some damaging ender. The people I spar with know of that setup and will always be on alert if I attempt footsies > 2C.

[CakeWasBannedd]

I feel dumb now just went and bothered tested ending 5B>6A>taunt loop with normal ender versus pounce super, and you get 600 less damage ending with pounce super. Looks like you'd be better off just using a normal ender and saving that meter for something else. Common knowledge to everyone except me, apparently

[XDest]

Yeah, pounce super in taunt combos is for early unburstable damage, I'd think. You would only get ~2500 for 5B>6A>j.2D~B>Taunt>214214C, but if it was near the end and the opponent still had a burst (but thought you were going for a taunt loop, so he would still have time to use it) it would kill him. Or if you wanted to end it in a flashy way and you're sure that ~2500 will kill them, that's always fun. It's the same reason you would do 5B>5C>236236D or 6B>236236D or 2B>5C>236236D. Etc...

[Taokakaism]

Hello guys, I'm here again with a new technique. Requirements 100% Heat. 2 Burst Combo into ~ -> 2D~C -> Gold Burst -> Land -> 6C -> Astral Finish.

[RinHara5aki]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19B7nJqlBLw

[Ronove]

Shouldn't you have posted this in the video thread...? Anyway, I lol'd when I saw you attempting the old CT ender and realized that you couldn't do 3D~3 > 236Bx5 after the vertical drive loop because the 3D would whiff since you were far below him in the air. This has so happened to me as well I can totally relate with you; it's hard to shrug off old CT habits, hehe. Other than that, you didn't do that bad, but Spirit Juice was really playing laid back, not pressing nor capitalizing that much on oki situations. I suppose he was kidding around, but you still could have won that just to make him feel sorry he should have tried harder. Sadly for Tao her health is so stupid low that the opponent may get 1/3 of our lifebar just with air pokes and normals. IMO Tao is no more a "high risk" character for the plain simple reason that you can't take any risks at all since the punishment is just too much for her. Gotta keep it simple and only attempt certain risky mixups if you know your opponent's habits. One thing though: whenever you're midscreen with a 3C, rather than doing the no hit combo > vertical drive stuff > cat2loop, if you're still not confident enough you can use this: 3C > 5D~B(hit) > 5C > 236AA > 2D~9 > j.C > 9D~9 > 3D~3 > 236Bx5 Ye old CT combo that work in CS, does around 3k/3.1K damage. It's not A LOT but it's easy to pull of and it's better to be sure to always land 3K rather than risking a harder combo and land only 2K because the final 236Bx5 whiffed. I'm using this while I am slowly getting more familiar and confident with the taunt loops.

[XDest]

But Ronove... 5B 3C D~B [hit] 5C 2D~6 j.C 9D~9 j.C 9D~9 ... 3D~3 j.236Bx5 does 3405. I think I said that at the top of this page actually. You should be doing that instead for a non-taunt combo. He was probably trying for that, but didn't delay enough between 9D~9 and 3D~3. Also, I suggest using that 236CC 2D~6 j.C 9D~9 3D~3 j.236Bx5 as a max Taunt Combo ender vs Noel, Lambda, Tsubaki and Litchi. The 5C ender does work but the timing ends up being very different and easily confuses you (they have to be closer to the floor when doing the 5C or it whiffs). I think I also said that before, but it's so annoying whiffing those 5C enders because of muscle memory alone.

[Ronove]

But Ronove..

I've tried a few times but I noticed that sometimes the 2D after 5C will whiff (but I guess it's a matter of how quick the 5C connects), so usually I prefer to insert 236AA because it makes it 100% certain to get it right and follow with the short vertical drive loop.

Also, I'm slowly figuring out the timing (midscreen) for the taunt loop string. Basically as you said earlier you need to wait a fraction of second between the 214D and j.2D~B to hit at the right height so that Tao won't surpass the opponent. What I do is to input 214D and hold stick on 4 a bit more after pressing D then do 3D~B. However I also noticed that the time window where we can input the ~B cancel during this string is shorter than the 6A(1) > j.2D~B window. So you REALLY have to nail that ~B cancel right when you delay the j.2D after the 214D.

[XDest]

Yeah, that's exactly where it whiffs vs those characters. And it's not how you time the 5C, it's how you time the delay to get them a certain height above the ground. Those characters have to be way closer to ground than the rest of the characters when performing 5C, thus changing up the timing completely.

[RinHara5aki]

Shouldn't you have posted this in the video thread...?

Yeah but.. my CS Tao vid thread is like... SO dead ....

Anyway, I lol'd when I saw you attempting the old CT ender and realized that you couldn't do 3D~3 > 236Bx5 after the vertical drive loop because the 3D would whiff since you were far below him in the air. This has so happened to me as well I can totally relate with you; it's hard to shrug off old CT habits, hehe.

Well its actually possible to do the three loops and still get the 3d -> 236b~ off. The timing is MUCH stricter than at 2 loops, but it IS possible. I was just so hyped I kept pressing it too early

Other than that, you didn't do that bad, but Spirit Juice was really playing laid back, not pressing nor capitalizing that much on oki situations. I suppose he was kidding around, but you still could have won that just to make him feel sorry he should have tried harder.

Yeah. He didn't say anything, but I know he was being nice 3:

I'll keep practicing Tao. I've noticed that A LOT of people use Lambda, and matchups seem very predictable because EVERYONE has played Lambda. Tao confuses the hell out of people, I caught our fellow Hakumen player qwerty off guard a couple of times.. will be uploaded later on TheBBVlog :P

Edit: LOL i forgot I said that... XD 1:20 "Such an un-hype finish..."

5B 3C D~B [hit] 5C 2D~6 j.C 9D~9 j.C 9D~9 ... 3D~3 j.236Bx5 does 3405. I think I said that at the top of this page actually. You should be doing that instead for a non-taunt combo. He was probably trying for that, but didn't delay enough between 9D~9 and 3D~3.

3: ...

3c -> 5d~b(Whiff) -> 5b -> 5c -> 2d~9 -> j.c -> 9d~9 -> ... -> 3d -> 236bbbbb~ did (3349)...

for 50 points difference I'd rather not drop the combo for missing the 5d~b(Hit), or the 5c (Which is different timing at different spacing of the final 3c hit..).. thats just me though. 3:

[RinHara5aki]

I think I accidentally found out a higher damaging non taunt combo during my match with qwerty after looking at the footage, it doesn't have to be counter hit... it's probably character and spacing specific for the last 3c hit to hit though... 5b -> 2c -> 3c -> 5d~b(No hit) -> 5b -> 5c -> 2d~9 -> j.c -> 9d~9 -> ... -> 3d -> 236bbbbb~ (3592) D:

[XDest]

Only problem is that has to be close to the corner for the 3rd hit of 3C to hit I believe. Also, the 3349 was from a 3C by itself. The 5B would prorate it down a lot I think if it was there. But of course, once you get the loop down this means nothing. Delicious 4235/6800 damage. Edit: Just watched that fully - try to implement more j.B, it's actually good now. There's a lot of times where you did a j.C and flew right over his head, whiffing. j.B is now for those exact moments.

[RinHara5aki]

Only problem is that has to be close to the corner for the 3rd hit of 3C to hit I believe. Also, the 3349 was from a 3C by itself. The 5B would prorate it down a lot I think if it was there.

But of course, once you get the loop down this means nothing. Delicious 4235/6800 damage.

No, this was done mid-screen, albiet it was done point-blank range.

Yeah.. If i could just figure out how to do a 6c taunt loop on P2 side of the joystick, it would be a miracle.

[PlasticChicken]

You can get over 5k damage by doing the taunt loop on 3c hits. If you get a close hit or it's near the corner, you can directly go into the taunt loops without using the j.d~c(whiff) -> j.2~b cancel.

[XDest]

Have the best 6C non-taunt combo I found, Rin: 6C 236CC 2D~6 j.C 9D~9 j.C 9D~9 ... (3D~3 j.236B)x2 3D~3 j.236Bx5 [~4450]

[CakeWasBannedd]

Quick poll I'd like all Tao mains to participate in. How well are you doing Taunt Loops in CS? I've got it down to almost 100% and hardly ever whiff it, and I must say it's making my Tao beastly. Just curious is all, since DacidBro said something along the lines of "the only person in America who's doing taunt loop consistently is TaoFTW." Considering only like...four-five people post here anymore including me, It'd be interesting to know how our players are faring.

[RinHara5aki]

Quick poll I'd like all Tao mains to participate in. How well are you doing Taunt Loops in CS? I've got it down to almost 100% and hardly ever whiff it, and I must say it's making my Tao beastly. Just curious is all, since DacidBro said something along the lines of "the only person in America who's doing taunt loop consistently is TaoFTW." Considering only like...four-five people post here anymore including me, It'd be interesting to know how our players are faring.

I think Dacid was understating that since the only Tao he actually know's is TaoFTW. I also first showed up on the CS scene as Lambda, but as time went on, I noticed that my Tao is actually far superior in PvP, so I started playing her too, and to my demise, a little too late. I dont know shit with her. But Dacid probably doesn't know much about either these tao forums, or any good Tao players. Where do all of you live anyways?! o__0?

I can't loop worth my life. I get two off before it drops. But I haven't practiced at all..

[Ronove]

@Cake I'm around 50% consistency, I can only practice this on weekends so this is probably an other reason. I did figure out the correct timing, but getting it into muscle memory and avoid rushing the damn j.2D~B after 214D is proving to be harder than I thought. I think I'll eventually get to 100% within a month though, I guess I'll have to find a way to practice this stuff regularly every day. x_x

[Taokakaism]

I hope you people are having fun with taokaka. New interesting facts. 6C links into 6C, should opponent be launched off the 1st 6C hit while on air. (up to 5 times possible, to be ended with 5C/236CC combos 3-4k) 6C links to 214214C as unblockable/undodgeable if blocked by opponent on air.

[PlasticChicken]

I am consistent to the point where I don't really even think about it anymore. This happened only very recently for me since I've been practicing a lot lately. (1-2 weeks ago) I can maximize my damage by doing the 5c enders as well. I live in seattle. In the video section I posted a video of me getting a perfect astral finish in a recent tournament... you can hear me hitting the buttons on the taunt timing if you raise the volume. It might help people who are stuck. Also note, I am hitting the 2d~b a tad bit faster than usual probably because I was too excited during the tournament which caused me to use the "oh crap i mess up combo." I don't blame dacidbro, Tao is one of the least played characters in the game and it seems many have dropped her in CS for an easier character to make things worse. But yes he is very mistaken since I'm sure there are at least a couple people in the US that can do the taunt loops consistently.

[XDest]

I've finally started getting it on stick a good bit more, but still not even close to consistent. But I've had it down completely on pad for a good while now. Also, I'm pretty sure Yucorp had it down within the first week. That guy has amazing execution.